Linchpin
by The Guy in 8B
Summary: Luck had nothing to do with Katie befriending Ryder. She was on a mission. The fate of earth lies in the balance and now she has drawn Ryder right into the firing lines. Will Ryder be able to handle it, when Katie finally reveals her true identity? A Ryder/Katie Adventure Romance.
1. Ryder Trips a Trap

Once upon a time, someone I follow on tumblr requested that we share our 'conspiracy theories' on who Ryder was talking to online. My answer involved Ryder being smack bang in the middle of a complex web of lies involving a cyborg, a large group of aliens and Jarley as the linchpin to a series of events that would bring about the destruction of the world. Some aspects have been altered, just to make it less crazy, but this …(pause for effect)… is that story.

AU from Shooting Star.

If you're on a full size screen, please read this with your page width set to 1/2 or at least 3/4. It's a lot easier on the eyes like this. Messenger conversations interspersed with plot are hard to read and I'm not a fan but in this instance (what with it currently being their only form of communication) I think it's necessary.

* * *

Ryder saw her come online as he sat in the library struggling his way through an essay detailing the importance of the Craftsmen's Play in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The concepts and themes were fine, but he'd used Helena and Hermia interchangeably throughout the essay and had only just figured it out. It was going to be a long night. And there was still Glee club before he could go home.

**katie_xoxo**: Hey there ;)

He started typing in a message and smiled as he was able turn his mangled spelling into clear and precise English. He loved Ghotit. He had been so self-conscious about his terrible spelling when he had started chatting with Katie, it felt like he had the online equivalent of acne or bad BO.

_ryder_lynn_: Hey :D

_ryder_lynn_: You're the kind of lady I've been looking for my entire life.

_ryder_lynn_: Every boy dreams of the day he'll finally meet that special someone who is able to….

_ryder_lynn_: offer even a small break from this hellish English essay ;)

He could see her perfectly when he closed his eyes. She would tilt her head to side, laughing at his clumsy attempt at a pick up line.

**katie_xoxo**: Haha, cute. How long did it take you to come up with that smooth line?

She was always a little sarcastic when he tried lines like that but he was fairly certain that she was sincere about the cute. She was perfect. Everything he revealed to her: his goofy jokes, his love of cheesy 80s soft rock...even stuff in his past that he didn't think he would reveal to anyone, she just took it all in her stride. She was the most accepting person he had ever met and he hadn't even really met her yet. He felt his stomach lurch as he contemplated this.

_ryder_lynn_:…..30 minutes, give or take :D

What would he do when he first met her? Would he kiss her or play it cool? Would he even be able to play it cool? Oh god, he would probably panic.

_ryder_lynn_: Can you blame me? I'm pretty sure it's just about people running around in a forest after getting drugged.

_ryder_lynn_: There's a guy with a donkey's head. He is LITERALLY an ass. How are you supposed to critically analyze that?

_ryder_lynn_: It's like critically analyzing The Hangover or Superbad.

**katie_xoxo**: At least you have Glee to take your mind off it soon : )

_ryder_lynn_: Yeah, I guess.

**katie_xoxo**: Is something bothering you at Glee? Are things ok with Unique?

_ryder_lynn_: No, not that. It's just, Marley….she's acting kind of controlling. She screamed at Jake in the middle of the hall just because of the song he wanted to sing. And I mean, yeah, Chris Brown isn't great, but that really wasn't necessary.

_ryder_lynn_: And Jake, he just backs up whatever she says, it's like they're this mutated single human being that only has one brain but for some reason gets two votes.

**katie_xoxo**: You seem to be spending lots of time with them…

**katie_xoxo**: Isn't that hard? Why don't you try to distance yourself a little?

_ryder_lynn_: Oh, you know what they say. Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer :p

**katie_xoxo**: …..Are they the friends or the enemies that statement?

_ryder_lynn_: JK, they're totally my friends. Just, sometimes, it gets hard to remember that. It would be a lot easier if they weren't so sickeningly…together.

Ryder sucked in a breath quickly as his words appeared in the conversation window. He sounded so bitter. Somewhere along the line this conversation had gotten derailed. He suspected it was around the time he started talking about Shakespearean asses.

_ryder_lynn_: They are both awesome people. They just make a singular, not quite so awesome, Jarley Monster!

After a minute of radio silence, Ryder tried again.

_ryder_lynn_: It's like, there are enough seats to go around, you don't need to share. You know?

Yeah, it was a faux pas, he had been talking about Jake and Marley too much lately but that almost felt like a smooth save. If there was only one thing that two single people could talk about, it would be their dislike of watching coupling. He imagined the worry wrinkle that had formed above her nose smoothing as she let out a quick laugh at his comment.

**katie_xoxo**: Yeah, I guess.

So, maybe she didn't quite laugh.

_ryder_lynn_: ….This is coming out all wrong. Can we just start over? I just

He held down backspace. No, that wouldn't do.

_ryder_lynn_: I'm sure I'd be less jealous if I were part of my own little couple monster…

Oh god no, that was worse.

_ryder_lynn_: If perchance I have offended think of this and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear.

He sat back, proud. He had been spending way too long on his essay but it was paying off. That said apologizing via iambic pentameter, while suave as hell, probably wouldn't go down well. He stabbed at the backspace key until the sentence had disappeared.

_ryder_lynn_: So…I think I've kind of upset you. And even if I haven't, I still want to apologize. We have something here. Yeah, maybe this all started with me whining about the girl I liked but our connection is more than that, more than I ever had with Marley. But sometimes I forget that, and I just slip back into complaining about her again. If you gave me a chance, I can promise that anything else bouncing around in my head would just disappear. Because I think you're just that amazing.

There.

That was it. He didn't know where it had come from, but it was the truth. His hand shook a little as he placed it back on the mouse. His whole body felt like it was pulsing in time to his heart. Maybe this was it; this was what would convince her to give them a real chance.

He set about correcting all of the spelling mistakes he'd made in that. He worked quickly but it still took a while; more than half of the words were colored red. And then, as he looked up to send it, her icon flicked to offline. Ryder slammed his hand on the desk in exasperation which earned him a ferocious shushing from the librarian on duty.

He shut down the computer before packing his bag and stalking out of the room. Maybe if he got to the music room early he'd be able to take out his frustrations on the drum kit.

Or a music stand.

* * *

Ghotit is real life software that helps people with particularly bad spelling e.g. dyslexics. It's kinda nuts how far off you can be from the desired word and it will still offer the right spelling. I don't like the idea of spelling everything right (because that's just not who Ryder is) but the idea of intentionally putting in spelling errors physically hurts me. So I figured he'd be likely to use software like this :)

On that note, I welcome ALL criticism. Even if it's just a spelling mistake. Also, theorising! Who do you think is a cyborg? What about the aliens? How exactly are Jarley are vital to the continuation of life as we know it?...


	2. A Surprising First Meeting

A huge shout out to Gleekbroadwaystarforever who was my first ever reviewer! For this, they earn my undying love. I can't PM you so I'll answer your question in an author's note under this chapter.

But to your other question, YES, I definitely plan on continuing! I've plotted out an approximately 10 chapter story but I haven't written any ahead of time so I'm not sure that they'll all be the same length.

* * *

"Okay guys," Mr Schuester called as he strode into the auditorium. "As you all know, the performance is on tomorrow, so today we need to talk about staging. Getting on and off stage is vital to a good performance. It's the first and last thing that and audience sees so it's the entertainer's equivalent of a first impression. It's important you do nothing that will detract from your performance."

It was at that point that Ryder felt himself start to zone out. He had been hoping to lose himself in a song or two; anything except a duet would have done the trick. Instead he faced the prospect of learning how to walk on and off stage without tripping and only Mr Schue's voice to distract him.

Truthfully, he had completely forgotten about the performance. In a bid to increase the profile of the arts at McKinley, Mr Schue had convinced Principal Figgins to sign off on an evening performance to showcase the work of the school clubs often overlooked by students. Students would be invited, as would parents and any interested members of the public (who Principal Figgins was unable to stop referring to 'future students').

Principal Figgins had been significantly easier to convince than the various school clubs. If you had one of the more unique pastimes, being overlooked was almost the best possible outcome; New Directions were a cold reminder of what happens you get noticed. Ryder imagined it had taken significant wheedling, or even intimidation, from Mr Schue to assemble the ragtag collection of clubs who had agreed to participate.

The Jazz Band would have been easy enough to convince as they were already there to provide the backing for New Directions. The Fruit Sculpture Club had refused to show their faces but had agreed to decorate the foyer if supplies were provided. Mr Schue must have had sensitive information about the Future Actors of America Club, because they were performing the entire first act their own modernized version of Waiting for Godot. Earlier that day Blaine had told Ryder that The Secret Society of Superheroes had only agreed to stage a mock battle when Mr Schue had deliberated tracking down McKinley's newly formed Fight Club to ask the same favour. Then there was the School Orchestra who, Ryder suspected, had jumped at the chance to be allowed out of the orchestra pit.

Mr Schuester had changed topics briefly and was deep in conversation with Sam about issues with his solo in one of the songs they were performing. Ryder used this opportunity to divert his gaze.

Marley and Jake were in full couple mode today. Ryder could see their hand loosely entwined and resting on the armrest between their chairs. Usually he would have been seated next to them; he had briefly contemplated it as he walked in, but in the end had decided on a seat two rows behind them. His latest conversation with Katie had upset the tenuous balance of emotions inside him and he didn't feel quite up to the upheaval that he knew would follow an interaction with Marley and Jake.

As strongly as he felt for Katie, it was foolish to think that everything he felt for Marley had completely vanished. As much as he had carefully schooled his expressions and fought down his emotions, he had only managed so much.

When he was talking to Katie he could almost pretend that those feelings weren't there. They would disappear and he could pretend like he was a normal person again; one who didn't spend more time working on his friends' love life than his own, or kiss his friends' girlfriends, or mentally catalogue every song heard as 'Suitable' or 'Unsuitable' for him and Marley to use as a duet. He could almost feel like the person he remembered being before it all happened.

But then sometimes, when he saw Marley, it was like nothing had changed. She was still adorable and smiley and so nice to him. The feelings, that he thought he had ridded himself of, welled up again from somewhere deep inside him; they were unexpected and uncomfortable and all the more powerful for having been temporarily marginalized.

It was worse than usual today.

He was starting to lose hope that Katie would ever agree to meet him. Ryder meant what he said, when he defended his friendship with her, a connection was a connection regardless of physical closeness. But he _wanted_ that physical closeness; his loneliness was growing into a physical ache that knotted in his chest whenever a couple even wandered past in the hallway. A few weeks ago knowing that he had Katie sitting somewhere on the other end of a computer had assuaged that feeling, but now it felt like she was just _another_ girl who didn't want to be with him.

Ryder was dragged out of contemplation by a hand being place on his shoulder. He turned around and was faced with Blaine's concerned face.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked quietly, letting his eyes slide quickly over to where Marley and Jake were sitting and back to Ryder. "You know, if you need to talk anything over with someone…." He let the sentence trail off uncertainly and shrugged. Ryder would have assumed he was off the hook if it weren't for the intense scrutiny that Blaine still had locked in on him.

Ryder had to break the eye contact before he was able to answer. "No. I'm fine. Really. I just…"

From his other side he heard Kitty utter a low gagging noise. "I'm with you on this, Cyrano. Marley and Jake are so sickly sweet it turns my stomach."

He turned quickly to her, to do damage control, "Oh no, it's not…."

"Please, Timmy Third Wheel." She interrupts, holding her hand up toward his face for effect. "I'd say your secret is safe with me, but we both know that particular birdy flew the coop a looong time ago. So I'll just say that I won't worsen the situation. For now."

The smile she shot him after that proclamation was _almost_ sweet.

* * *

When Mr Schuester was happy that they knew their stage directions he let them leave. He shouted a reminder to be back at the auditorium this time tomorrow for the pre-performance huddle as they slowly dispersed into the darkening halls of the school building.

Ryder walked slowly back to his locker alongside Marley and Jake. They were both chatting animatedly about the choreography in one of the numbers; Ryder was relieved that he was not really expected to participate. They separated ways as Ryder reached his locker and he waved goodbye while vindictively ignoring the small pang that his heart sent out in protest.

He sighed and opened his locker before bending at the waist and letting his head thump against the edge of his locker. He closed his eyes. It was exhausting. All of it. As much as he enjoyed spending his nights with Katie providing a respite to everything he dealt with at school, it was wreaking havoc on this sleeping pattern.

He heard footsteps behind him and briefly contemplated expending some energy to lift his head from his locker. Ultimately, he didn't bother. His stomach was informing him that it was already past five; at this point, the only people left would be the janitors.

The footsteps that he expected to pass him by… didn't. Instead he felt as a soft hand was placed on his lower back.

And then he heard, "I'm going to assume that that was the dreaded _Jarley Monster_. Cute couple. But I'm much more interested in meeting you."

The voice was fairly low, for a girl, and held this tantalizing hint of humour. If he was entirely honest, it was one of the most attractive voices he'd ever hear.

And exactly how he'd been imagining it.

He breathed out slowly to steady himself before turning his head to face the voice. Though, at this point, it felt more like a formality than anything; he knew how he felt and her appearance wouldn't change that. She was funny and wise and caring and…._interested in him_. But more than all that, she was _here_; she had come to find him. He felt ready for all this, for moving on and moving forward; for something, _anything_, different.

That said, he still couldn't help but let out a small internal cheer when he saw her. The most apparent feature was her blonde hair; it spilled down in soft large waves and cast shadows across her face as looked down him with the side of his head still pressed against his locker. He stood up quickly, suddenly self-conscious of how she saw him.

She had a small frame, shorter than he had imagined; but her posture and taut arms alluded to containing delicate lithe power. He couldn't see he eyes properly in the dimmed hallway but the wide nose and those lips, the top lip thin and firm and bottom lip tantalizingly soft and swollen, assured him that the pictures she had been sending were in fact her.

Cute. _Very cute._ But fierce. Something behind her features hinted that there was so much more he had to learn. He felt himself being drawn in and did nothing to stop it; now that she was here there was no choice, he _had_ to see this through to the end.

When she had first sent him a picture it was of her smiling, sitting cross-legged on sand. He had spent hours trying to place himself inside that picture, to fully experience that moment; so now, when he felt certain that she smelled of salt and sunshine and honey, he almost let himself ignore it. That would just be too perfect.

She held out a hand silently, with a small smile playing out around the edges of her lips. He took it and let her lead him around the corner and…into the locker room.

As she dropped his hand to slip into the centre of the room he opened his mouth to protest. "You can't be in here! This is the boy's loc…."

The rest of the sentence, if it even came out, was lost.

The girl had drawn her arm back, close to her side, with her hand formed into an open claw. In one smooth violent movement she pushed her hand outwards and upwards until it stopped, straight in front of her. She threw her entire right side into this movement, driving much more energy into it than normal. She was standing at least 10 feet away from him but Ryder felt that motion as it impact on his upper torso.

He was weightless for a second and then his back slammed into the wall of lockers behind him. While it buckled significantly from the force in his body, it wasn't enough to protect his head as it was flung backwards to connect with the lockers. Instantly, his vision became white hot and the little consciousness he managed to retain was filled with overwhelming fear and confusion but, above all, pain. He slid down the mangled lockers and slumped like a ragdoll onto the floor.

And then it all went black.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

These two chapters have been mostly set up, stuff really gets moving in the next chapter…Or at least that's the plan, I haven't written it yet :) What do you think Katie is, a cyborg or an alien? Let me know what you think! NB: Way more normal theorizing about who you actually think Katie is is totally fine also :P

Gleekbroadwaystarforever asked who I thought Katie was. They also said that they suspected Kitty or Unique. Those are both solid suspects but I'm kinda hoping that it's Jake. Katie showed up right after Marley admitted to the kiss with Ryder. I can imagine Jake, in a fit of jealousy, creating Katie to get back at him or maybe he even planned to use it as a way to distract Ryder from his crush on Marley. Also the way that he was acting in the first half of Shooting Star made me suspicious for some reason. It would be nice to see Jake have a story line independent from Marley and it would make for some great scenes exploring Jake and Ryder's friendship. That said, if I had to put money on it, it would probably be Unique.


	3. Katie Complicates Matters

AN: Hope everyone enjoyed the final!

* * *

For Ryder, regaining consciousness felt very much like being shot from a cannon. He was surrounded by darkness until, suddenly, he felt himself hurtling forward. He watched as a small circle of light in front of him grew rapidly larger and nearer until he was able to recognize the ceiling of the locker room within the bright dot.

_I'm not ready to go back_, Ryder thought, as the scene swelled to fill his entire vision. And then suddenly, there he was.

The deep throbbing pain in the top left of his torso immediately drew his attention. Muscles in his shoulder were spasming and with each contraction immense waves of pain rippled out in every direction. Each breath was coming out in gasps and coughs. His heart was pounding so violently that he almost expected the force to lift his chest off the floor.

"What?" Ryder spat out. It wasn't specifically aimed at the girl crouched next to him; in fact, he didn't even really know what he was asking.

_What was that? What are you? What did you do that for? What did I break? _

The girl busied herself supporting his back as he tried to move and she maneuvered him into a sitting position with his back pressed against on the lockers. She gently pulled his left arm until it lay across his lap forming a right angle.

"I need you to make a fist." She said it quietly but with such authority that Ryder obeyed without a second thought. She quickly met his eyes. "This is going to hurt."

She placed one hand on his upper arm and then with the other hand began slowly rotating his lower arm outwards. She had been right, it did hurt. Beneath the agony, Ryder felt his body experience two competing desires; one, to curl himself up smaller and smaller until nothing remained; and two, to run as far away as he possibly could. He felt his breath coming in shallower and shallower gasps as he fought to stay sitting upright.

Then, with an audible pop, the pain suddenly lessened to a more manageable throbbing discomfort. He looked down towards his shoulder and realised his shirt was in nothing but charred tatters. Through a particularly large hole he noticed a large patch of reddened flesh on his left pectoral. It was only then that he became aware that, as well as the ache emanating from his shoulder, there was the sensation of a shallow but still very painful burning from this patch of skin.

As if in answer, the girl used her hands to rip his shirt, widening the hole to begin administering to this section of his chest. She reached around him and into one of the lockers that was hanging open as a result of her attack. She pulled out a baseball cap then abruptly stood and walked quickly into the other room.

He tried to continue watching her as she walked away but immediately winced as the movement made his neck twinge and his head start to spin. He had been considering making a run for it until then; now he wasn't even sure if his body would let him get to a standing position, let alone all the way outside.

When she returned, the cap was full of ice and he realized that Coach Beiste must have forgotten to drain the ice bath that the football team used after training. It may have accumulated the sweat of 20 active guys but Ryder couldn't deny his relief when she placed it over his singed skin. She placed the cap carefully so that the ice had direct contact with his skin but the brim prevented any from falling out onto the floor.

"Can you hold that there?"

Ryder nodded dumbly. His hand shook slightly as he placed it loosely over hers so that she could slide her hand out without the cap falling. He was almost shocked to discover that she felt human. Her hand was soft and warm; after what she had done to him Ryder didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that.

It was then that Ryder noticed the box she had in her other hand. He figured it was the Med Kit that Coach Beiste kept in her office. He hadn't had to use it before but he could see pills, bandages and various containers as she dug through its contents. She pulled out a large square dressing, some Burn Relief gel and some of the rigid strapping tape the guys on the team often used. Then she took the cap off him, accidentally spilling some of the ice across the floor.

She squeezed a large dollop of the burn gel onto her hand and transferred it to his chest. She worked briskly but carefully so as not jostle his injuries any further. Once the gel was applied, she covered it with the dressing and secured it.

Strapping up his shoulder took longer. Even when she further ripped his shirt to gain full access, the strapping was a prolonged process that required many long strips of tape; they crossed and overlapped multiple times to provide protection from further injury but not to fully immobilize. She knew what she was doing.

As she did this, Ryder took the time to study her face. _Why was she doing this?_ To come and find someone, injure them and then fix them? It made no sense. And if she was really also the girl he had been talking to, why had she done all that if she planned to attack him?

As she finished up, Ryder finally found his voice. "Who are you?" he asked quietly. "What was that thing you did?"

She looked down, almost shyly and Ryder could help thinking that, if there was ever a time for shyness, it was not after you had almost ripped off someone's shirt telekinetically.

"I'm….Katie." She stated simply as if, after everything, that should have been obvious to him.

"You never mentioned the…" he waved his hand demonstratively, "…hadouken when we were chatting."

"No, actually that's a new addition."

Ryder almost fell sideways when his phone trilled loudly and vibrated in his pocket. He swore under his breath as fumbled to take it out; his heart hadn't been particularly calm during this encounter but now it was beating so violently in his chest he felt surprised it wasn't injuring him further.

He looked down at the caller. "It's my mom. She'll be outside waiting to pick me up. She'll call the Security if she can't find me."

For the first time, it was Katie who looked taken aback. "Ryder. I'm not going to stop you from going out to your mother. That isn't what is happening here."

Ryder took a slow breath in through his nose to try and control his breathing. He had no clue what he was going to say but he swiped the screen to answer the call and brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hi Mom."

"_Hi sweetie." _His mom's voice came over the speaker. It was steady and warm and, above all, normal. Ryder felt his eyes prick with tears. _"I'm outside. Where are you? Did you forget I had the early shift today?"_

Katie had sat down on the bench directly in front of him and was watching him silently. Her posture was immaculate, her eyes were betraying nothing but still something about her was emanating desperation. He couldn't take his eyes off it.

Dammit.

"Uh, no I didn't forget. Umm, I'm still in Glee actually. We're having issues with one of the songs we're doing tomorrow so I'm staying later."

"_Oh, ok then. I wished you'd let me know sooner, Ryder. I go out of my way to get here you know."_

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

"_Dinner is pork buns with a stir fry. Do you want me to leave yours in the oven?"_

"In the fridge is fine. Thanks Mom…..." He paused for a second. "I love you."

"_Well…..I love you too, honey. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"_

As Ryder hung up the phone, he felt his body again trying to flood his already overloaded system with adrenaline. He wasn't entirely sure why he had just done that; all he knew was that something big was happening and he couldn't even conceive of walking out and leaving this behind.

At this distance and lighting, Ryder was finally able to study her eyes. Something about Katie just felt off. Her body, her face, even her eyelids and lashes were soft and warm and human; but her eyes, something was missing. Had lying to his mother been a mistake? People always talked about serial killers having cold dead eyes. Is that what he was looking at? Katie coughed and stood up quickly, intentionally breaking the eye contact.

When she returned she had a dark blue t-shirt in held out to him.

"Here, that t-shirt you have on will make your mother worry."

He took the shirt and began to slide out of the few scraps of his old one that were still covering his torso.

"I'm sorry Ryder. That…..I didn't mean to hurt you."

He pulled the new t-shirt down carefully before fixing his eyes on her.

"_What_ are you? What was _that_?" He glanced down at her hand. It was hanging loosely at her side, small and pale; it looked so harmless.

"It's a device that manipulates the air molecules in front of me. It speeds them up so significantly that even the relatively small mass of the gasses are able to impact a large impulse on whatever is in the path. It's really quite remarkable."

"And why did you use it on me?"

"I thought you were someone else." She appeared to be at a loss. She ran her hand through her hair as she squatted to sit in front of him. Ryder liked that she wasn't towering over him anymore but he wasn't sure he preferred this closeness.

"I thought you were someone dangerous. Clearly, I was wrong…" she said, as she gestured toward his shoulder. Ryder huffed, annoyed but rather surprised to discover that his masculine pride was still intact.

"No, Ryder," she said as she reached out to place a hand softly on his knee. "Humans are so breakable. The person I was expecting isn't human, not really, and they would probably have shrugged that off. I was trying to _stun_ them at the most. If I had realized…"

So she wasn't trying to kill him. But that didn't mean that he felt comfortable with her touching him; he frowned down at the hand on his leg until she removed it. He shook his head wearily.

"I guess, thanks for patching me up?"

"Ryder. I would never have just left you. It was my fault you were hurt, I had to fix you. But, also…" She paused for a second. "I want to ask for your help.

"Something bad will happen. These people I'm tracking? They're trying to reach Marley and Jake to break them apart. They believe that, if they do, they will set off a long chain of events that will ultimately result in the destruction of our civilization on earth. And I believe they're right."

"And you thought I was one of them?"

"Yes, I did. Actually, I thought you were a very solid lead." She shook her head slowly. "You were with them a lot. Sometimes you seemed to be trying to break them up and, even when you weren't, you had this almost fanatical involvement in their relationship. This afternoon, when you were talking about them, I just… I felt so sure."

Ryder was at a loss. "Ummm…no. I can honestly say that any involvement I had in their relationship was purely for my own reasons. Nothing….apocalypse-y."

His head was starting to spin as all these new pieces of information. He was trying to grasp at the strings of information she was dangling towards him but they were too small and disjointed. He needed more; he needed the whole picture.

"But, how do you know about these people? Why are you the one stopping them? Why should I believe anything you say?"

"It is my concern because I am capable of preventing it. That should've been clear to you when I nearly crippled you using only air… accidentally." She paused, Ryder suspected she was almost relishing the spectacle of it. "Doesn't that give you a hint that there are things happening in your world that you know nothing about?"

"No, Katie, I'm serious. If I'm going to help you I need to understand why."

* * *

Note: Wow, this story is undergoing some serious scope spread! This chapter only covered half of what I was anticipating. Those first two chapters going up within two days…..that was a blip that I doubt will ever happen again. I imagine we're looking at maybe one chapter a week but I'll definitely try and push for a second if I can.

I hope you guys are enjoying it!


	4. Earth-shattering Calculations

I won't lie to you. This is the exposition chapter. Every sci-fi needs it, it sets up the verse that the fic happens so that you are able to absorb it and then sit back and enjoy the rest of the story. I hope I've made it interesting enough but if it's too much writing just scroll down to the bottom of the page and I've included a two sentence summary. NB: I don't really recommend this option.

Big shout out to the show Castle for this chapter. Their episode Linchpin was the seed that this whole fic grew from.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Earth-shattering Calculations**

Ryder spoke that sentence with significantly more conviction than he felt. He wasn't anxious to see Katie experiment with that new toy on, say, his head and her was fairly certain who held the cards here. Then it occurred to him that she was asking for his help; maybe his hand wasn't as bad as he thought. Emboldened, he continued to talk.

"Let's start with what you are. You say you're Katie, but that's not the whole story."

She regarded him quietly. Ryder didn't know what she was looking for in his eyes but she must have found it. "I should have guessed. You always have to get the bottom of everything," she said as her lips formed into a wry smile.

"I suppose that's as good a place to start as any. Katie was a name I was given by an organization called the Syndicate. I wasn't born so much as compiled. Until this afternoon I was only a personality in a computer that you interacted with, I was downloaded into my body to interact with the outside world.

"I am a person, but only sort of. My body is has a robotic core. I don't have bones or organs like you do, they're all synthetic; mostly alloys."

Ryder tried not to stare as he took in the new information. "But you look so …human."

Katie nodded her head towards him and quickly smiled, embarrassed, before regaining her professional manner. "Uh, thanks. That's because my skin and outer tissue is as real as yours. It was grown around the metal frame and the tissue connects into my organs just like yours.

"Because of my metal frame they were able to make ...upgrades. I'm stronger and faster than a human in addition to the Air Manipulator; that's what I accidentally used on you earlier. It's not much but it brings me up to par with enemies of the Syndicate.

"I was created as part of work carried out by a syndicate within the government. It's a group that works to make sure that earth is not under threat of attack. We work for the Interplanetary High Council, unofficially. Our enemies are varied but at the moment we believe we're in danger from a group of aliens from a dying planet. We call them the Hackers.

"Scientists within The Syndicate developed a complex computer program that they use to predict the probability of future events. It's prophesying but done with intricate knowledge of the initial conditions. They analyze the patterns that form so that they can locate the linchpin.

"A linchpin is single thing that ties everything together. It's a small event that directly triggers the occurrence of a larger event. It's like a line of dominoes. You only have to knock over one domino, but if it's the right domino, the rest will fall.

"Marley and Jake are that linchpin. Or rather, their break up is. If they break up, the consequence will cascade further than it's possible to imagine.

"And the Hackers know this." She paused. In the silence, Ryder realised that he wasn't breathing; he sucked in a breath and nodded.

"Keep going."

"I used to be connected to the network of computers that carried out the predictions. What I'm going to tell you is just one of the more likely scenarios. All of the models indicate a few common events: the rift caused in glee, Jake's public outburst, the school's attempt at order, the formation of mythology… the final result. In over 99% of the models these events all result in the same conclusion; the details may be fluctuate but in the end, that won't matter.

"Their split up will be rough, for more than just them. It will cause a rift between the purely creative kids in Glee, like Marley, and those involved in sports, like Jake. It becomes a power play, you know, Sports vs. the Arts."

"It's always like that."

"No, it isn't; not like this. It's more personal this time. It's vicious. It's never been this bad _within_ the Glee club before. Any attempt Mr Schuster makes to try to continue with practices as normal only adds the tension simmering below the surface.

"During a performance, an argument breaks out on stage. Jake quits on the spot, in front of the full assembly. The entire school talks about that performance. Something about the raw emotion displayed on that stage grab the imaginations of all the student and they are drawn in. Sides are taken. Causes are formed. Marley and Jake are held high as the heroes of their respective sides.

"It permeates the whole school. It doesn't matter if a student doesn't want to be involved; those who don't align don't last long. Picking a side will mean that only _half_ the school is against you; it offers protection and friendship. Each side chooses a name, to make it easier to designate which side a person is on.

"Orchestra obviously sides with The Chorus. The Superhero Club follows their leader Nighthawk to The Chorus also. The Science Club sides with The Playmakers. It's mutually beneficial; the brains gain muscle and the jocks gain commanders. The stoners...like that the Glee Club can play them Pink Floyd live.

"Of course, at this point, it isn't about Marley and Jake anymore. It's about personal vendettas. Everyone has some reason to want revenge on the other side. This is worse than spiked slushies, or leaked set lists, or yelling in the hallway; even Kitty's mind games can't hold a candle to what follows. Blood is drawn.

"The school retaliates. Metal detectors and armed guards are brought in to curb the violence in the halls. All this does is move the fighting out of the schools. It spills out; into parks, onto streets, into shops. Siblings usually align to the same side; but, for the ones who don't, even their own house becomes a battleground.

"From here it spreads, like a virus. It spreads to younger and older siblings as battle stories are told over the dinner table; then to cousins and friends at other schools. As clashes become more common around town, even strangers passing by get drawn in.

"By now, this war has its own mythology. Stories are told in hushed whispers over lunch tables; of past victories, of past defeats, of the menaces on the other side and of the two who started it all. People get swept into the spectacle of the epic battle and never stop to consider the damage caused by their desire for vengeance.

"Youtube furthers the reach of the damage. Some people become vloggers and spend their time promoting their cause while other simply record punch-ups as they occur and put up the raw unedited footage. In the comments, arguments grow and ferment before spilling over the bounds of the screen and into homes over the country. And so it spreads and spreads and spreads. It spans continents before the Interplanetary High Council really takes notice.

"The Hackers are a very advanced race of aliens known for their intelligence and technological development. Physically, they are very slow and weak so they pride themselves on an invention that they use to experience a virtual reality; it allows them to hack in to the mind of any individual to experience their life.

"Progression has stripped their planet of its resources almost entirely and the entire race needs to move to ensure their survival. And that's where earth comes in.

"The human brain has architecture that houses the Hacker's signature very well. It's a comfortable life in a body better than their own, on a planet that they have grown to love through their hacked experiences. The Hackers propose altering their coding slightly so that they are able to also gain _control_ of their host's body. The host would be merely a shell for the Hacker to inhabit.

"I thought you were a Shell. When a hacker is present, the host's eye change; they become darker and flat. I thought I saw that in you."

She looked down and toyed with her shoes and Ryder thought he could make out both regret and embarrassment on her face.

"Maybe it was because it was dark or maybe I was just expecting to see it. I don't know. But that's why I attacked you.

"It's illegal, of course, to control a host's body. They are currently held back by the Interplanetary High Council and Colonization Regulations that are in place. The morality around the hacking software is ambiguous but what this new code suggested is indistinguishable from slavery."

"Then, why do you think they are here already?"

She continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"But, of course, those Regulations are there for the benefit of all races and if it was felt there would be a universal improvement with the colonization of earth, exceptions can be made. Sometime soon after the first riot breaks out in Africa it is decided that is no longer beneficial for humans to keep possession of earth. Driven by their fear of the anger spreading beyond earth, they accept the suggestion from the Hackers. Within their civilization, the Hackers have always been a very peaceful race and offer up a guarantee that this will continue. Many in the High Council see this as a favour done for Planet Earth.

"So one night, thousands of ships descend upon earth. The violence and suffering and pain , they're all wiped out overnight. Externally anyway, within the mind of each Shell is a trapped secondary consciousness with no way to escape."

Ryder swore under his breath. This time he knew not to expect Katie to stop for the interruption.

"The Syndicate is almost certain that the new code has already been written and is being used. They think that the Hackers have a few Shells placed in Lima to speed up the degeneration of earth. They'll only have been able to sneak in a couple of agents without detection but even one could mean the difference between Marley and Jake surviving or breaking up.

"Do you ….Does that help you understand?"

Ryder shakily tried to stand without placing any weight on his left side. "Yes. But, god, uh….I'm not sure what _I_ can do…"

"I placed _all_ my bets on you being a Shell. Now have no way of getting back to The Syndicate and no information to go on. I need a way into the school and into the minds of people close to Marley and Jake. I need to find the Shell and de-program them. And I need to make sure that they don't get to Jake and Marley before I do. And that's what I need you for. But I _don't_ want you to get hurt again. I won't ask you to get involved when we actually find them.

"So, will you help me?"

Part of him, a big part, was screaming at him to run; but he was still being drawn closer. She was still Katie, despite all of this, and the connection was still there.

So he slowly nodded.

* * *

So Ryder has just been recruited on to Team Jarley by his online love-interest who he has just discovered is a cyborg. This…..has not been a great day for him.

**So, who do you think the Shells are? Will they be someone we know? Will Ryder be able to put aside his personal feelings and help the Jarley cause? What, for that matter, are Ryder's personal feelings? Let me know your thoughts!**

This chapter was a rather exposition-ey and a little less fun than the others but I think it properly sets up the direction this fic is heading in. So hopefully you like it! If you didn't understand anything please let me know, you got a bit of a brain dump today.

If you didn't, whoops, sorry :) But I really felt like I had to sell the high concept of one relationship being critical to the survival of the planet because this is kinda what the fic hinges on. But in essence, all I needed to say was:

_**Save the Jarley! Save the World!**_


	5. Finding a Way to Sleep

This story only has Ryder as a character cos there is no Katie category. That really confuses me. I mean, we have Rachel's Dads and Olivia Newton-John (seriously) and Santana's grandmother but no Katie? Did we collectively just decide that Ryder was getting catfished and therefore not give her a category? Cos, yeah, probably a safe bet even from the beginning but still… it makes stories like this feel out of place :P

* * *

**Chapter Five: Finding a Way to Sleep **

Ryder had barely exited the locker room before he realised that he couldn't even begin to understand what he had just agreed to. As if to highlight this, they reached his locker; it was hanging open, where he'd left it when Katie took his hand less than an hour ago. He huffed as he realised that there was no way he would be able to slip his bag over his injured arm.

Ryder jumped slightly as he felt Katie's fingers touch his elbow. He looked down at her and she smiled sweetly up at him.

"Can I carry your books for you?"

* * *

As Ryder walked into his house 20 minutes later he quickly checked his appearance in the hallway mirror. His left hand was in his jacket pocket to hide the fact that he couldn't move his arm, his hair wasn't too messed and there weren't even too many scratches on the exposed skin of his hands and face. He could do this.

"Ryder honey," his mom called as he passed the door to the living room. "How did your practice go?"

Ryder paused, leaning on the door frame because he still couldn't totally trust his knees. "Oh, yeah, fine. I think we have it ready to go now."

"That's great."

She then stood and followed him into the kitchen. She leaned on the breakfast bar and watched him mess with the microwave. When she spoke next, her voice was low. "Ryder, is everything okay? You seemed a little …strange on the phone this afternoon."

"Strange doesn't even begin to cover it, mom, but it's all ok now." He smiled down at her and was surprised when it was genuine. Yes, part of him was still reeling but now it was accompanied by an excitement. Maybe it was because he finally got to meet Katie or because she was so much more than he expected or even the prospect of having her whisk him away for this incredible adventure. As the grin widened he moved to get his food out of the microwave.

"I'll just eat in my room, k?"

He started to turn to walk away when suddenly her hand shot up to his hair. Ryder froze as he tried to think of what could possibly give him away but the only thing in her hand was a dried leaf. He assumed he had picked it up lying on the locker room floor.

"Okay, sweetie," she said as she quirked an eyebrow knowingly.

Ryder almost laughed as he headed to his room. If it only were that simple.

* * *

Katie was perched like a cat in the tree outside his window. He could feel her eyes on him even when the movement of the branches threw her face into shadow.

Ryder set the plate of food down on his desk and then turned his television on. When he was happy with the volume he walked over to open the window to let Katie in. She slipped in silently, then just stood there watching him.

"Ummm…" Ryder was at a loss. No amount of socialization could ever have prepared him for this situation. "Make yourself at home?"

Katie laughed quietly before taking her eyes off him and starting to make her way around the room. Now that her attention was off him Ryder felt comfortable to start on his dinner. But he kept one eye on her as he ate.

He'd never considered his room as being particularly personalised but suddenly he was conscious of what Katie would make of his Foreigner poster, his Buffy box set or Mr. Hugs who was lying in the corner but still very clearly a well-aged soft toy.

She was like a child in a store, tentatively touching or picking up everything to examine it further. She ran her hand across the spines of the small collection of books his grandfather gave him. She reached a finger out to feel the blanket at the end of his bed before grinning widely and gathering it up in both hands. Then she walked up beside him and ran her fingernail along the grooves of the wood grain in the desk.

"Look, do you want one of these?" Ryder asked as he offered her one of the pork buns, anything to stop the examination. "Or …will that mess up your robot insides? Do you eat?"

Katie smiled and accepted the food. She settled herself on the edge of his bed as she answered. "No, I eat. I think the designers decided that food was a safer fuel source than electricity. Needing a power cord is a pretty big giveaway that I'm not who I say I am."

"Fair enough …and I mean this in a completely constructive criticism kind of way. Don't …touch so many things. It's not what a normal person would do. You come off a little nuts."

"I feel kind of nuts. When I was in the computer, Katie had all these memories of how things felt. Mostly boring things, like when I told you about that time I got sunburned during the summer, but they were still so foreign to me. Until a few hours ago, I had never touched anything. Or tasted anything. Or even _seen_ anything. I didn't know what you thought I looked like until I walked past a shop window this evening."

She trailed off before looking down and shaking her head. "You should sleep; the human body heals better in sleep."

"You don't need to tell me all of this, you know…if it makes you uncomfortable."

"You didn't have to lie to your mother; at least, not to the extent that you did. You had an out and you didn't use it. You trusted me and I needed that. So …I'm trying to return the favour."

"Is that why you're here?" Ryder asked. "I mean, I know you need me to help you but I feel like you don't need to have to sneak into rooms and have dinner with all your contacts. I can't imagine that's on the mission brief."

"I'm worried you might have a small concussion. I want to make sure you wake up tomorrow."

"Are you kidding? There's no chance I'm sleeping! I feel like the time Jake let me have those coffee beans."

"Actually, I could….Would you be willing to let me do something that would help you sleep?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small object. It fit neatly in her hand and looked like a large flat stone. Small depressions indicated there were a few buttons on the top but the entire rest of the gadget was smooth.

"What's that?"

"It's a copy of the Hacker technology. I can use it to deprogram Shells. It can force Hackers to disconnect …or to stay connected. It lets me connect into the brain signature of a person and take control."

Ryder slid backwards off his chair as he stood up hastily.

"Then, honestly, no. I'd rather you not hack into my brain."

"I wouldn't be using it like the hackers. I'd go in and focus on your adrenaline centres. I'd… turn the volume down a little so that your system isn't so wired. And then your pain receptors, I'd just turn them off so your arm doesn't bother you while you sleep. And then I'd just nudge the frequency of your brain waves. And then I'd just let the theta waves do the rest. It's just like falling asleep."

"It's not permanent, is it? I don't wanna wake up a hippy…"

Katie laughed lightly. "You'll be back to normal in the morning but if you aren't, I'll tie-dye your shirts myself."

* * *

When Ryder exited the bathroom, the device was alive. His computer's keyboard was plugged into a port on the base of the device and as Katie typed, a collection of holographic images darted and dived in the air in front of her. He lay down on his bed, feeling very self-conscious.

He felt the minute she made the connection. His brain tingled like a small electric current was pulsing through it. As he let his eyes fall shut he realized he could make out the same holographic images imprinting on the inside of his eyelids. As he watched the patterns shift, Ryder felt himself begin to change. First, he felt all the pain in his body wash away and his heart rate begin to slow. He wouldn't exactly call it a calm but his brain gradually became quieter. He felt almost like he was simply observing his brain, he was aware of the muddle of pain and fear and anticipation but, at this moment, none of it mattered.

And that was probably why he had the courage for what he said next.

"Katie. All the texting and IM-ing …I just …Was any of it real?"

"Ryder …I thought you were an alien on a mission to destroy my planet."

His deepening trance softened the blow and, in the emotional stillness in his head, he watched a whisper of a hope dancing in front of him.

"That's not a no."

"No, it's not."

And he clung to that as he heard the keyboard resume clacking and he felt himself falling further and further into sleep.

* * *

I don't know if this is just the Joss fan girl in me but I feel like Ryder would love Buffy. I mean, he _loves_ girl power :p


	6. A Present for Marley

Hmm, this took me a little longer than anticipated. Ryder's been sleeping for quite a while!

Lots of love to Shawshank Prisoner who gave me a shout out on his Tumblr (user: pichutrainer) this week! It gave me a really nice boost to my confidence (and views) just as I was working to finish off this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Six: A Present for Marley**

The next morning came about with just as much clarity as Katie promised. If anything, life seemed even more in focus now. What Katie had done had been powerful. When Ryder had awoken, he had been surprised to discover that both Katie and her motorbike had left without rousing him. And though Ryder had never been a morning person, today, with the prospect of fighting Shells, saving the world and seeing Katie, he had been out of bed in seconds. He felt alive, like he had never slept better.

The low morning sun danced through the trees outside the school and through the large windows at the front of the building. As Ryder walked along the hallway, the glare flickered like paparazzi camera flashes as it passed behind columns and tree trunks. With each flash on the sunlight, Ryder let his eyes focus on another one of the students and teachers passing him in the hallway. Any one of them, absolutely anyone, could be a Shell. And it was his job to find them.

With the next flash of light, Ryder caught sight of Katie slipping through the crowd. She smiled and him and raised her hand in acknowledgement as she entered a class room with a large group of students.

He turned and saw Jake making his way towards him in the crowded hallway. Ryder smiled as his mood remained completely unaffected. He watched as Jake swam against the current before finally popping out of the flow just beside him.

"Dude, did you hear about what Carmel High did?"

"Uh, no. What?"

"Some people snuck in here after school and completely beat down the locker room. People are saying it's the Carmel High football team. Someone shoulder barged some lockers so hard it almost ripped out of the floor. There's clothes everywhere and when one of the janitors went in there he slipped on some water on the floor and got taken away in an ambulance. Figgins is on the warpath!"

"Wow." Ryder breathed in relief; he couldn't have come up with a better story if he had tried.

"Hey man. I need to ask you for a favour and …this might seem a little weird"

Ryder smiled. "After last night, only '_a little_ weird' will seem like a holiday."

Jake paused and his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Ignore me. Continue." Ryder prompted.

"I need you to go shopping with me at lunch."

* * *

"Do we have enough time?" Ryder worried as they wandered along the pedestrian mall.

"Dude, we're skipping Glee so we have all lunch time. I'll question my Y-chromosome if we can't manage."

Ryder shrugged. "Point taken."

"Anyway," Jake continued, "I know exactly where we're going. Marley loves this shop. I spent so long waiting outside last week that I'm pretty sure some of the pigeons know me by name."

The store name, Serendipity, was spelled out in large sloping script over the door and as they got closer Ryder could smell vanilla drifting out the door to tempt people in. Ryder took a deep breath and let the scent invade his nostrils. The things he would do to save the world.

Ryder looked around and took in the shop. Along each wall, shelves were jam-packed with oddities: a long necklace with a bronze robot ornament, measuring cups in the shape of babushka dolls, a CD and mp3 player disguised as a record player. Objects to want, rather than need.

He came to a halt quickly as he almost ran into Jake. Jake was looking up in awe at a backpack shaped like Chewbacca. He gently reached out a hand to stroke the shaggy material and said in a hushed tone, "When did Star Wars get cool?"

"Keep walking, man. What did you want to get for Marley?"

"I dunno. I just knew she went in the shop, I never came in. I have no clue what she was looking at. That's why I brought you."

"I am _not_ giving you any clues this time. The last time I helped out didn't end well."

Jake's shoulders tensed momentarily as Ryder spoke before he shrugged in agreement.

"Besides, you know her now," Ryder said. He gestured towards Jake as he tried to prompt his friend into action. "….so you can work out what she would've liked here."

He grabbed Jake's shoulders and started directing him around the shop. "What does she talk about? What does she do when you guys aren't together? What does her room look like? Does it have anything that looks like it belongs in this shop?"

He felt Jake sigh under his hands and dialed up his enthusiasm. "Come on man, this isn't shopping, it's investigating! _Detective work!_ You be Sherlock, I'll be Watson!"

Jake laughed and lifted a hand to point at a mirror shaped like a treble clef hanging on the other wall.

"Glee is kind of Marley's life. Or…well, all music is, I guess. She has tonnes of old vinyl in her room. Her mom gave her some when they were clearing out the house when Marley was little. She goes out to fairs and garage sales most Saturday mornings to buy more to add to the collection. The TV in their house is pretty much only on for American Idol and America's Got Talent. And she is always singing or humming. It's really cute. She doodles melodies in her books when she's not interested in what the teacher's saying. Just little bits, you know, a few lines of lyrics or chords. I don't even think she realizes she's doing it. She brushed it off when I pointed it out."

Ryder smiled but didn't let his face give anything away. He'd assumed that Glee would come up but he hadn't expected Jake to have so much else stored in his memory. He let Jake lead him towards the mirror.

Most of the music section was cute things that were music themed but not practically useful such as the pen shaped like a flute or the cushions that had various musical symbol prints on the covers. In the corner, however, Jake found a small vintage notebook which he picked up and showed to Ryder. On the inside the pages alternated between a traditional lined notebook and stave markings for music writing.

Ryder looked up to see Jake smiling with an embarrassed expression on his face. "So, you know, this way the teachers will rub her music out when she hands in her books for marking…"

Ryder blinked and then really looked at Jake for a second. The guy with the chip on his shoulder, the one who had run around breaking hearts in his first weeks at McKinley, was nowhere to be seen. It struck Ryder just how much Jake was committing himself to this relationship.

When Ryder didn't respond immediately, Jake cleared his throat and shrugged as he turned to put the book back down. Ryder reached out a hand to stop him.

"No, Jake, that's a great idea. Just …maybe get something else a little less practical as well to be safe."

Jake looked confused.

"Something …shinier," Ryder said, raising his eyebrows slowly.

* * *

When they left the shop with Jake was carrying an ornate gift bag. In it was the book as well as a small jewellery box that rattled as they walked down the pedestrian mall back to Jake's car.

* * *

They got back to school as the bell for next period was ringing. Ryder slid into a seat next to Sam in English class. Jake didn't follow him in and, as Ryder looked at Marley sitting a few rows ahead of him, he realized that Jake was planning something.

As the teacher started a close reading on the next scene, Sam leaned over and started whispering to Ryder.

"Dude, where were you? You and Jake missed Glee. Kitty told me that you had, like, challenged Jake to a duel over Marley's heart. But you're all over that, right?"

"What? The throw-the-gauntlet bring-your-best-pistol to-first-blood kind of duel? Yeah, I think I got over that in the 19th century actually."

Sam raised his eyebrows and looked around at the teacher before leaning in even closer for emphasis. "No, I'm serious. Marley's _pissed_. She doesn't like being treated like some prize to be won. She sung this whole fierce intense song about being her own woman."

"Well, then, _no_. Not at all. I'm done with messing up relationships unless they're mine. I _was_ with Jake but we weren't fighting, we were …shopping."

He looked over his shoulder to where Kitty was sitting. Seeing his movement, she looked over at him smiled quickly. Just for a second they locked eyes and Ryder saw all he needed to see. No happiness, no sadness, no annoyance …not even boredom. Suddenly he realized what Katie had meant; Kitty's eyes were completely flat, inhumanly so. Ryder's mind raced. He hadn't seen Katie since the morning; he assumed she was still around the school but he couldn't be certain. And what if Kitty grew suspicious before he was able to even leave the classroom?

Ryder's train of though was interrupted as everyone heard a loud knock on the classroom door. He spun around to see Jake enter the room with a guitar hanging around his shoulder; the gift bag was hanging on the guitar neck.

"Mr Puckerman. Class is in session, you can't just come in here and…"

"I promise I'll be quick. I'll even help you out."

Jake peered at the white board. "Midsummer Night's Dream. Hmmm, that sounds like one of The Comedies."

He then turned to announce to the class. "Everyone ends up with who they're meant to be with. The End."

With his job done, he turned his attention to Marley. The teacher sighed heavily.

"Marley, we've had a tough couple of weeks." Jake looked down and shuffled his feet. He plucked out a low note on his guitar to fill the nervous silence.

"I feel like we're just holding it together in front of other people because if _other _people notice something is up …well …it'll mean we have to accept that something is really wrong. But I want to address it. I want to talk it through. And I want to sort it out. I even want to take the blame where I should. But I don't know what's wrong. So I thought this might help us start…"

Jake trailed off. He hooked the gift off the end of the guitar and placed it in front of Marley but she barely noted it; she was staring up at Jake's face, unmoving.

He started plucking the strings on the guitar, creating a melody of fast and low notes. Then he opened his mouth and began to sing in hushed tones. _A/N Search: Sky by Joshua Radin._

"_I woke, dreaming we had broke. Dreaming you left me, for someone new."_

Ryder hadn't been expecting this either. Jake's voice was rough with emotion but everything else was flawless; the fingerpicking, slapping his guitar to provide percussion, his voice effortlessly finding the notes. It made Ryder wonder just how long Jake had practiced this and how long they had been having issues.

"_I, I, I will be fine, just say you'll stay forever mine."_

Ryder looked between the two of them. Jake was pouring his heart into this song and Marley was starting to react. A small smile was ghosting across her lips.

"_Last night, we had a great fight. I fell asleep in a horrible state. Then dreamt that you loved my best friend. My heart would not mend. Seemed it was fate."_

At this, Marley joined in the harmony and secondary melody.

"_Sometimes I forget to love you like I should. But I'd never leave you know I never would."_

She stayed seated but she was smiling wider and was leaning forward earnestly. Just _maybe_, Ryder thought, earth wasn't doomed after all.

"_Just say you'll stay forever mine, til we fall asleep tonight."_

The song died out and Jake continued to look at Marley expectantly. She opened up the gift bag and pulled out the layer of scented tissue paper. She was reaching in when, suddenly, her hand stilled. Her head whipped around to look at Ryder and he almost fell backwards off his chair at the anger in her eyes.

She turned back to Jake. "Is this some kind of _joke_ to you?" she hissed.

"No!" Jake forced out. "I don't…what?"

"You spent all this time fighting over me, Jake. Now _you have me_ and you just don't seem to care. You text me asking me on dates you don't show up for. My mom says that some of the staff heard you complaining about me in the cafeteria. My friends in Spanish class are talking about how you were hitting on Rosalie after gym. But then you come in and sing an amazing song to me and make me forget all that. And now this?

"I thought you really cared about me, Jake. But this feels like one big mind game to you. I'm starting to think maybe everyone's first impressions about you were right."

She ran her hand through her hair. Jake's head bobbed as he swallowed nervously, with his eyes wide.

"You know Jake, I'm not sure that I can…"

"No!" The word came out of Ryder's mouth before he even had time to process it. He wasn't sure what to say; he wasn't even sure what was happening.

All he could think about was Katie's words. _During a performance… An argument…_ The_ raw emotion_…

Was this the performance that would start the house of cards tumbling?

"Just, _please don't do this_." Ryder pleaded.

He was talking to Marley but he felt like he was saying it to both of them. And to Katie and the Hackers. To the whole planet. _Don't let this be the end._

Marley stared at him in disbelief and then stormed out of the room.

* * *

So this chapter was hard for me for two reasons. One, I've been crazy busy, I was part of a team that made a movie for the 48 hour film festival one weekend and then I was in a different city watching a multi-sport event the next weekend….very little prolonged writing time available. Two, as a girl, getting into the head of two guys in a kitschy store is almost beyond my capabilities. If there is one thing that I don't understand about boys, it's how they'd react to a suitcase shaped and coloured like a watermelon (a 'fruit' case if you will) or an A1 poster of fairy bread.

The next chapter will likely be a little shorter, it was going to be part of this chapter but I realised that this was a good place to finish. But as a result, it'll likely be up a bit quicker!


	7. Agony Aunt

Ummm, I'm really sorry this is like, 2/3 weeks after when I thought it would be out. I cannot properly express how I feel about myself without going into tumblr levels of feels and punctuation. And that just ain't appropriate here.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Agony Aunt**

The door slammed shut and the sound rang like a gunshot in the stunned silence of the classroom. Jake sighed and sat down heavily in the seat Marley had just left. Even the teacher couldn't bring herself to remind him that he wasn't even supposed to be in this class.

Ryder sent his chair flying as he jumped from his desk. He marched towards Jake at the front of the classroom.

"What the hell are you doing? Go after her!"

He saw Jake's shoulders slump and his head fall as he got closer to the morose boy. When he reached him, Ryder leaned over to bring their faces to the same level and lightly shook Jake's shoulder to get his attention.

"You have to find her," he said, his voice low but urgent.

Jake looked up at him slowly with disbelief playing across his face. "I _really_ don't think I do."

"Did you see her while you were singing? You guys are okay. This was just a …_really confusing_… misunderstanding."

"Yeah, and I'm sick of it. I sick of feeling like I'm some terrible player. I try everything and that's _still_ all she sees. I can't deal with that, Ryder. It's not…"

"No!" Ryder quickly cut of the end of Jake's sentence. "Not yet. Okay? I promised myself I wouldn't, but… let me meddle, just once more?"

Jake just shook his head. "What's the point?"

Ryder's voice grew louder as he tried to make Jake understand. "Did you do any of those things? Are you complaining about her to random people in the lunch room? Are you standing her up on dates? Are you hitting on other girls?"

Jake shook his head violently and started to open his mouth but Ryder cut him off.

"Then make her see that. Someone's setting you up, Jake. They _want_ you to fail. And if you give up now, you _let them win_." He finished his speech with a flourish and stood up straight as he waited for a response.

Jake cracked a small smile. "I guess it would be nice to break up because of something I actually did."

Ryder shrugged as he considered Jake's sentence. "That isn't quite the heartfelt response I was hoping for, but it'll do."

Ryder grabbed the gift bag. He turned and fixed his gaze on Jake for a second longer.

"This isn't how you guys are supposed to end."

And with that, Ryder ran out into the hallway. He had no clue where Marley may have run to, but he could only hope it wouldn't already be too late when he found her.

* * *

As he spotted her through the window, Ryder realized that he should have immediately thought to come here. Budget cuts meant that this room lay empty most of the day and, as Ryder was still learning, music was a big part of Marley's life.

He took a few deep breaths to fortify himself. This was going to be difficult, in more ways than one. But this was about Marley and Jake. And having the power to save everyone he loved. And any leftover feelings would have to take back seat to that. With that, he placed his hand firmly on the door handle.

He slipped in through the door as quietly as he could but wasn't able to stop the door thumping closed behind him. At the noise, Marley's fingers stilled and the melody stopped. She slid around on the piano stool and he watched her expression fall.

"Oh, it's you."

"You were hoping for Jake?"

Marley scoffed and almost cracked a smile. "Not really, no. But I definitely wasn't hoping for _you_."

"Marley…" Ryder reached out his arms imploringly. "I'm lost. Jake's _so_ lost, he's ready to give up. We don't understand…"

Marley cut him off as she stood up and pulled the bag from his hand. She reached in and pulled out the wrapped book. She handed it to Ryder roughly.

"So I take it you don't know anything about this?"

On the top of the book was a small card that Ryder hadn't seen at the store. He could see the words _From Ryder_ written on the card in large looped handwriting. Again, Ryder's mind started racing. He couldn't work out when it could have happened. There hadn't been anyone else in the store and they had come straight back to school afterwards.

But Jake had left to get his guitar. Ryder racked his brain, trying to remember if Kitty had been in the classroom when he arrived.

"No, I don't," he said. When she looked at him unconvinced, he expanded. "Have you even seen my handwriting? There's no way that was me. And anyway, I have _no_ reason to try to take credit for Jake's presents anymore."

"Then it must have been Jake," Marley said with her voice drained of emotion.

"_Why_ would he do that?"

As the words burst from his mouth, Marley took a step towards him with her eyes flashing dangerously.

"He's _done_ with me? He realized he didn't want to give up all the _other_ girls? He figured a simple break up was too _low-key_? You know, a public breakup would _easily_ free up a few sympathetic shoulders to cry on. I _don't know_. Maybe it was all just some sick _game_."

At that, Marley seemed to deflate. She sat down on the piano stool again and looked down at the keys.

"Or maybe …because it's all just too hard. Even from the start, it was never _easy_. All the other girls he had dated, I couldn't …it was always this issue between us. And then …we kissed." She broke off and gestured between the two of them. "And things got worse. We got back together but…"

She shook her head. "He was distant. It felt like he wasn't properly there and, even though I wasn't thinking it before, I began to wonder if maybe we weren't each other's best option …so when I saw the card. It was like someone else was telling me the same thing. Maybe, _you_ were telling me the same thing."

"Marley ...I don't know who put the card on there. But I didn't buy the present. I mean, yeah, I went with him but I only really nudged him into ideas. He picked it out himself. I swear."

He passed the present back to her.

"Open it."

She ripped open the wrapping paper but preserved the card and put it on the top of the piano. She flicked through the lined pages. Ryder watched her closely, wondering if Jake's wager had paid off. Her smile was small, but it was there.

As she examined the pages, Ryder took a second for himself. He felt, surprisingly, okay. The emotional uproar he had expected from acting as counselor hadn't arisen. Instead, things were feeling quieter and simpler. And clearer. Ryder felt like he was seeing Marley properly for the first time. Instead of this untouchable shy-smiling beauty he could see past that to someone with feelings and issues just like him.

"And you didn't….?"

"He picked that out himself. He said that you're always writing in your margins and thought you might like a bit more room. I didn't know that. He notices you, Marley. He's working on it. He wouldn't have put all that effort in just to upset you."

Her smile brightened as he spoke. "It's kinda perfect."

"Jake really cares about you and he's really trying to make this work. But you need to stop comparing him to other guys. You know him too. The real him, not the player a lot of people see. And a real person with issues is worth so much more than a perfect person who only exists in your mind."

Ryder steeled himself for the next part of his speech.

"I have a _really_ good memory. When I was younger, I had trouble reading. And I guess I felt embarrassed or something because instead of admitting it or just ignoring it I'd get my older sister to read me these stories over and over and over until I could recite them from memory. That way, when they got me to read along…." Ryder trailed off embarrassed. "I can still recite all of Horton Hears a Who."

Marley sat and listened. She didn't try to stop his story but she was looking at him with a confused expression on her face

"Whenever I want to make a good impression on someone, I just do the same thing. I collect information and repeat it over and over to myself in case it's useful one day. Like with the peonies."

Ryder raised an eyebrow jokingly. He didn't like to brag but he was really great at the start of the relationship. Flowers, picnics, flirting; it all came naturally. Marley had been the only girl he had lost to a competitor and Ryder was gradually realizing why that had happened.

"I have style but not substance. All the stuff I remembered about you, it doesn't mean much. I mean, yeah, I do _care_ about you, but what you have with Jake is bigger than me. Just because Jake can't remember things like that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. And it definitely doesn't mean that he wants other girls.

"As an outside observer? Yeah, you guys have issues but they're not massive. You just need some time to talk and get everything out in the open. Because …you guys are so much more important than your issues."

Marley sucked in a breath of surprise as he spoke candidly and Ryder took the opportunity to go out on a limb.

"How about this? Candle-lit meal for the two of you before the performance tonight? No one will be using the music room cos we'll be in the green room already. You can talk it all out." He reached into the gift bag and drew out the second parcel. "And you can open this in front of him. I feel bad that I got to watch you open the other one."

Marley smiled weakly. "That sounds good. All of it sounds good."

Ryder grinned then looked away from her. An uncomfortable silence descended. A lot had been revealed in the past few minutes and Ryder wasn't entirely sure how to continue.

Ultimately, he didn't have to as Marley decided to break the silence. She cleared her throat and said, "To be honest, I didn't think I'd have an ally in you. At least not like this."

"Yeah well…." Ryder trailed off, letting his heart flip as his thoughts strayed to Katie.

Marley couldn't miss the goofy grin that crossed his lips and suddenly she was fully engaged in the new topic of conversation.

"Oh my god, _Ryder Lynn_! What are you not telling us?" She shuffled towards him and leaned in conspiratorially. "It's not your online mystery girl, is it?"

Ryder laughed and looked down as he colored. "I met her."

At this, Marley fingers latched onto his arm. "And?!" she prompted. Ryder laughed at her excitement.

"She's …perfect. She's amazing. She's _so_ confusing. She's a mystery _wrapped_ in an enigma." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to sort his thoughts. "I can't even… She's strong and beautiful. She's _fierce_, like, not only _can _she take on the world but she _wants_ to. But fierce in a …_softer_ way, I guess? Like her strength comes from caring about her friends rather than hating her enemies. And she's got this dry sense of humor that just pops out of _nowhere_.

"I look at her and suddenly my brain feels alive. Like, I'll just stop working properly unless I can learn _everything_ there is to know about her. I've never met anyone like her. Well, not in real life, anyway. She just, she makes me forget anything I ever _knew_."

His speech stopped as suddenly as it had started. His heart was racing and his hands were clammy and cold. He drew a breath in quickly before letting it all out in a shallow gust. He felt the fingers on his arm loosen and drop away. He looked over at Marley and as he met her eyes, wide with shock, he let his grin grow once more.

He let out a quick burst of laughter. "Oh my god, I'm nuts."

Marley's expression relaxed and she smiled warmly at him. "No," she said. "I think you're right on track. I'm so happy for you."

She pulled him into a hug and Ryder hugged her back firmly. He winced slightly as his shoulder twinged again.

"Do you have a free period next?" Marley asked as they separated.

"No, why?"

"We need to go shopping for the romantic dinner…"

"Oh, I kinda assumed that Jake would be buying the..." Ryder paused for a second, flustered.

Marley shook her head. "I screamed at him, for something he didn't do, in front of a classroom full of his friends, after he sang an amazing version of a song by one of my favorite singers. Don't you think I should be the one buying dinner?"

She had a point, Ryder though, as he clapped his hand down on her shoulder and started to direct her out of the room. The hallway was starting to fill with students spilling out of nearby classrooms. He smiled wide as he checked for nearby teachers and they started towards the closest exit; he was starting to enjoy this.

* * *

Guys…I promise next chapter won't be shopping again :P And I can promise more Katie. Cos it's been a while since I wrote her And I will ABSOLUTELY promise it'll be up sooner.

What do you think of Ryder's revelation?...:)


	8. Operation: Dinner for Two

I think you guys can probably see it ramping up a little. It won't be 10 chapters like I originally planned; instead it's been storyboarded out at a respectable 12. That said, I'm still not sure exactly how it's going to go. So there's still enough time for everything to sufficiently hit the fan : ) I like this chapter a lot, I hope you do too!

I've also put it up to a T, I'd happily let a 9 year old read this but I still think it probably belongs more in the teen section hypothetically speaking. It won't get any more T-ish than this though.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Operation: Dinner for Two**

Ryder crouched with his feet in the shrubs and his hand leaning against the window sill. He peered in to the room, watching Marley set up a small table with candles and food from a delicatessen. He had barely had anything to do with the dinner shopping besides strongly advocating for bacon to be on the menu. As he realized this, Ryder felt uncomfortable for the first time, like he was intruding on something personal. As much as he had had a hand in it happening, this moment was not about him; instead, it was about Jake and Marley and only they could affect the outcome now.

"Facebook stalking just not cutting it for you anymore?" It came from less than an inch away from his right ear and Ryder almost fell into the garden in his haste to turn around and face the voice.

There was Katie. She smiled brightly and settled herself into the neighbouring shrub leaning towards him; this, she also did with a conspicuous lack of noise, Ryder noticed in mild annoyance.

"I've been looking for you," Ryder said. "Kitty's been spreading rumours about Jake and I think she planted something in his bag earlier. "

Katie raised her eyebrows quickly. "You're certain she's the Shell? In one day? I should have attacked you weeks ago."

She clamped her lips shut quickly and raised her eyes up to meet his. "Sorry."

Ryder touched his shoulder subconsciously at the mention of yesterday. "Yeah, well, Kitty never exactly looked like she had small woodland creatures help her dress her in the morning but now there is definitely an extra layer of …what is the direct opposite of warm and fuzzy?"

Katie nodded quickly.

"Shouldn't we go and …?" Ryder started to ask.

Something in Katie clicked on. She had been close to him before, with her arms resting on her knees, but now she pulled her face away from his, sat up ramrod straight and fixed him with a penetrating stare. This wasn't cute-girl-Katie that he was talking to anymore; this was Katie the government soldier.

"_No_, Ryder. _We_ aren't going to anything about her. _I_ am going to confront her before she gets to the auditorium tonight. But first, _I_ am going to escort these two there, I don't want her ambushing them on the way there."

Ryder had seen them as a team; now she was trying to shut him out just as it was getting exciting. He couldn't help but lash out a little.

"Yeah, well, _you_ don't play well with others."

Katie's soldier face faltered a little at that, but her posture remained unyielding.

"If it helps you not get killed, I can deal with that."

Ryder pressed his lips together and turned toward to window to continue observing as Jake entered the music room. The next few minutes were spent in an uncomfortable silence.

They both watched as Jake went to sit down and Marley ran to fetch some sparkling grape juice out of the mini fridge in Mr Shue's office. Jake took a deep breath and quickly wiped his hands on his jeans. When Marley returned, Ryder watched a small hopeful smile cross both of their faces.

He felt his gut twist again but not with desire or jealousy like before; this feeling came from deeper inside him. He suspected that it had always been there but had been masked by the more insistent emotions. Loneliness.

"Wow, this is really hurting you." Katie spoke softly as if she was trying to protect the silence they were enveloped in.

Ryder shook his head. "No. I mean, yeah, but not really." He gestured towards where the couple was sitting together on the small table.

"I want _that._ I want a girl to go and buy deli food and set up a cute little table because she thinks I'm worth going to that effort. But I don't want Marley. "

He shrugged, trying to underplay what this meant to him.

"I'm not sure I ever really wanted _her._ I mean, I _barely_ knew her. Jake said something to me today, about how music takes up Marley's whole life, and I suddenly realized 'That's so much more important than knowing she loves _peonies_.' I mean yeah, I liked what I saw and we definitely had a connection, I wasn't imagining that, but that became _too_ important to me. I was kind of a dick for a while."

"You weren't as bad as all that."

Ryder raised his eyebrows.

"Katie, I was so bad that you thought I was possessed by an alien trying to take over the planet."

She laughed suddenly, as if the sound had bubbled out of her lips without permission.

"You know, before all of this, I kind of imagined I'd be doing stuff like that with you." Ryder said, fighting his instinct to look down in embarrassment as he tried to gauge her reaction from her face.

Her smile dropped, just for a second. "I think you also imagined me human."

"No I didn't, I imagined you as a dream. You were perfect. I didn't believe how someone who fit me so well could exist."

When it reappeared, her smile had a complex unreadable undertone that Ryder had never imagined on her face when they were chatting. Of course, that wasn't even nearly the smallest difference between the fantasy and the reality; this awkward sarcastic kick-ass cyborg was making him feel more things than his fantasy version of her could even fathom.

Katie didn't break his gaze, merely held it unwaveringly. "You weren't perfect. But you were open and passionate and _real_. And that's worth so much more."

"You sound like you had a bit of a crush on the enemy," Ryder ventured a joke. He smiled in an attempt to hide how important the answer to this question was.

Katie looked down and shook her head slowly. The movement caused her fringe to fall to cover her eyes. "It's hard not to fall for someone when your entire personality was created to get close to them."

Emboldened, Ryder reached forward to cup her cheek and bring her gaze up to meet his.

"Ryder…" she said as she moved backwards just enough to evade his touch. He pulled his hand back quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't…" She trailed off and looked at him with pleading eyes, trying to make him understand something he just couldn't decipher.

Ryder started forward. "Why not?"

"Because my _entire_ personality was designed to get close to you."

Ryder shook his head slightly as his eyes widened his eyes in confusion. She sighed and started to open her mouth. Suddenly her eyes locked on something over his shoulder.

He turned around to see Kitty standing twenty feet away from them with her eyes trained unwaveringly on Katie. As they both watched, she let her cheerleading bag fall slowly and deliberately off her shoulder.

But Katie was the first to move. She stood up abruptly as she pulled the de-programmer from her jacket pocket. As Katie started to run towards her, she threw a blast of energy from her right hand which Kitty neatly dodged. As they got within brawling distance, Ryder watched Katie throw a wide powerful punch. Instead of meeting its target, the punch simply opened up Katie's torso to attack. Kitty ducked under the swinging arm and delivered several short sharp punches to her stomach.

Katie raised her left arm to deflect a further jab aimed at her throat. She succeeded and their forearms met powerfully but the jolt knocked the device from her hand and sent it skittering under a nearby bush.

Ryder saw Katie pause, just for a second, thrown at the loss of her weapon. This opportunity was all Kitty needed to grab her by the shoulders and slam her against a nearby wall. The crack of Katie's head against the brick resounded around the deserted courtyard. Kitty adjusted her arm to cut off her windpipe and Ryder saw her face twist in vicious victory.

It was temporary, however, as Katie fumbled between their torsos and released a second blast of energy. Because she hadn't be able to wind up the attack, the light was dim and did little more than unbalance Kitty but, as the gap between them widened, Katie was able to draw up a knee into her chest. With a grunt of exertion, Katie flattened her foot into Kitty's chest and straightened her knee powerfully.

This sent Kitty reeling but only momentarily; in the time that it took Katie to step away from the wall, Kitty was primed for her second attack.

There was a second of serenity, then, amidst the fury of the fight. The only sound that tore through the silence of the deserted school was the sound of each fighter drawing in deep breaths to recover from the unexpected exertion.

It was in this second that Ryder realized that he was still crouched, frozen, in the bushes. He stood and walked uncertainly towards the pair before stopping at the edge of the relative safety of the garden.

Katie pulled her arm back to prepare another energy blast. Anticipating it now, Kitty rushed in the small distance to capture Katie's hand. In one smooth movement she spun around and twisted Katie's captured arm painfully behind her back. With her second hand she started to gouge at Katie's windpipe.

Ryder still wasn't certain whether Katie required the air that she took in to her lungs as she breathed. But the sounds that she started making as Kitty continued to crush her neck, Ryder could only react.

Mindful of Marley and Jake, eating dinner only a wall away, he kept quiet as he sprinted to the fighting pair. He placed both hands on Kitty's arm and threw all his weight into pulling it away from Katie's throat.

It did absolutely nothing. The Shell looked up and sneered at him. Then she casually reached back her arm to deal him a back-hand slap that knocked him down and left his teeth rattling.

Ryder wasn't certain if he had helped by distracting Kitty, but when he looked back Katie had gained enough momentum to lean forward and flip Kitty of her back. She took a step back from Kitty's crouched form and fired off a full strength blast.

This time Kitty took the force to the centre of her torso. She was airborne momentarily before hitting the ground and sliding ten feet on her back before catching herself on the handrail of the stairs leading down to the quad. She started to pull herself up slowly but determined. Seeing the resolve in her movement, Ryder sprang into action.

He ran and, without sparing time for thought, dove into a clumsy shoulder tackle. Surprised, Kitty started to topple and the ground abruptly disappeared from underneath both of them. Ryder hissed as his back smacked into the steps as he fell. He let go of Katie with one hand as he wrapped his arm around his head and neck. As they rolled over and over he became increasingly disoriented, successive bounces crushed Kitty's weight painfully into his chest, pressed his arm under both their weight or split the difference. All he could do was grit his teeth and pray that he was still in one piece at the bottom.

Eventually, they came to a stop on the landing. Kitty roughly pushed herself away from Ryder and stood up quickly. She seemed almost unaffected by the fall while Ryder felt like a giant had grabbed him around the torso and just _squeezed_. Instead of turning back to Katie immediately, the Shell – his brain refused to recognise this creature as Kitty – took a second to round on Ryder.

"Why don't you let the big girls sort this out, huh?" it hissed. "We don't need your continual ape-like interjections."

Ryder met flat brown eyes and wheezed as he felt his heart rate race.

"The only reason you haven't already met some suitably grim fate is that I haven't decided where to hide the bodies yet. Your whining remains aren't even fit to decompose in the same …"

Her voice crackled and as she continued to try and talk, the sentences came out garbled as if someone was messing with the radio stations in her head. Ryder looked and saw Katie at the top of the stairs, pointing the device directly at Kitty's head.

She turned jerkily and started to haul herself towards Katie as if fighting against a great force. Ryder reached out a hand and grabbed her by the ankle and pulled as hard as he could manage.

As she fell, Ryder saw that Katie had been projecting a pattern of lights onto her forehead. As it disconnected, the array was projected briefly on the tree behind them before Katie was able to shut it off.

As he turned back to Kitty he saw her eyes light up. He then could only watch as they clouded with very real human emotion; she remembered it all. He didn't need to imagine the violation she was feeling after having her body used by something against her will.

Her breath came in ragged bursts as she struggled to her knees. She fumbled with the zipper of the hoodie that had been hanging open and had missed most of the blasts. The same could not be said of her top. It was completely charred and the neck was hanging open dangerously.

Kitty's hands were shaking too much to connect the sides of the zip. She let out a frustrated cry and pulled each side across her body and then continued to hug herself, shaking. He watched her face became tight as she tried to hold her emotions at bay and she slid from her knees to lean curled against the stairs. It was only when he heard that first sob that Ryder came to his senses.

He dragged himself to his knees and crawled over to Kitty. He gathered her into a hug, wincing as her head bumped against his shoulder. Ryder found himself understanding Kitty for the first time ever as loud gasping sobs shook her small body.

He looked up and saw Katie regarding them quietly. "We need to get out of here. It's a quiet night, someone might have heard us."

* * *

I was really conscious of not wanting to turn this into a sexy girl fight but I also didn't shy away from putting stuff in that could be misinterpreted if I felt that what where the fight/story would naturally go. To me this is just two kick-ass female characters fighting but please let me know if you had any feelings, either way, about this chapter.

And for the love of god, please tell me if I mixed up Kitty and Katie during that fight...writing that really messed up my brain!


	9. Showtime

As we reach the home stretch I want to say thanks to people reading and/or reviewing. Putting this out in the open inspired me to play with the plot/structure quite a bit so that you guys would have a more satisfying ending. The dramatic climax used to be like here and now it's like….. up heere. You can't see what I'm doing with the height of my hands, but trust me, it's a good thing. So just, thanks :D And, without further ado…

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Showtime**

Kitty suddenly paused as they reached the door leading into the green room. When Ryder looked down at her for explanation, she was staring fixedly at the closed door in front of them. Ryder eased his arm out from around her torso where he had been supporting her as they walked. He quickly looked behind him, Katie had opted to shadow Marley and Jake when they walked back to the auditorium but Ryder couldn't make out any shapes in the gloomy concourse.

Without really acknowledging his movement, Kitty began to talk.

"It all changes…when we go through that door. Or…I guess, it goes back to the way it was. But everything has changed. How do I do this?"

Ryder started forward.

"Do you want me to find your mom? You could just go and watch in…"

Kitty cut him off with a vehement shake of her head. She opened her mouth to smile but her eyes were glassy in the low light and her uncomfortable laugh was swallowed by the cool evening air.

"What's the point? In the audience? On the stage? Either way, it's an act. And I only know the steps for one of them."

"Kitty…."

"No, Ryder, I promise, I'm fine. I'm just …tired."

He saw her shoulders slump for a second before she drew herself up with renewed resolve.

"Ryder, just before…." She trailed off as she looked for words. "It was hell, being trapped by that thing. I can't even begin describe it. And as soon as we step through there, I'm _never_ going to attempt to.

"There are some things that you just know are never going to leave your mind. So, you put all your energy into convincing yourself that it was all some nightmare. You run away from all the memories…and build the biggest wall you can imagine, and hope they never find you.

"What I'm trying to say…"

She pulled in a shuddering breath.

"This is the first time I've built one of these walls with the knowledge that there is someone fighting for me on the other side. So…

"Thank you."

_You're welcome_ didn't seem to quite fit the bill in this situation. And, in any case, he honestly hadn't considered that helping someone was optional. So he just smiled softly at her and turned to face the door. He slipped his palm into hers and squeezed lightly, waiting on her move.

They stood in silence for a few more minutes before Kitty reached out a hand and pushed the door open.

Their entrance into the green room was met with a silence so profound it made Ryder's ears ring. All of the New Directions were paused in various states of hustle and bustle with their eyes fixed firmly on him and Kitty. Sugar was balancing on one foot, distracted part way through putting on her second shoe. Blaine's fingers sat frozen at the base of Sam's throat, where they had been helping the boy with his bow tie. Tina's finger rested delicately on her cheek and her mouth hung open, wide and round; in her other hand, a mascara brush hung forgotten.

Ryder looked over at Kitty and then down at himself. Kitty's charred top was peeking out from the neck of her hoodie. Even without looking, Ryder felt pretty certain that he would have a few cuts and grazes on his face. They were _both_ covered in dust and dirt from the scuffle. And between the two of them they had about a branch worth of leaves in their hair, what his mother would have made of this, he had no clue.

The silence was punctuated as the pen that Finn had been chewing the end of fell from his mouth and fell to the ground with a hollow clatter.

"We had an accident." Ryder said, sheepishly. "… A fire related accident."

He shrugged and something in his back clicked audibly.

"…with stairs." Kitty added, somewhat helpfully.

All of New Directions each raised an eyebrow in unison, unconvinced. Mercifully, this was the second the Mr Shue hurried in from backstage.

"Come on, guys!" he announced happily as he clapped a hand on both Kitty and Ryder's shoulders. "The costume rack is over in the back. Ten minutes 'til curtain, gang!"

New Directions sprang into action then and Ryder allowed himself to be guided towards the costumes. He let his eyes meet Kitty's over the costume rack; she didn't smile and she didn't sneer. In fact, she didn't visibly react at all, but in that moment he felt the connection; as much as Kitty may deny it, they were now company to the same secret. And as selfish as the thought was, this knowledge comforted him.

The bathroom was empty so Ryder ducked in to change and take the opportunity to examine the damage. He stacked his clothes next to the basin, careful to avoid wet spots and leaned close into the mirror. Then he licked his thumb and swiped it firmly over the most significant of the cuts on his face. It was nothing a few minutes holding some toilet paper on it wouldn't fix.

He shrugged his shoulders experimentally and then arched his back. The pain in his shoulder was nothing new and his back popped only a few more times.

Next, Ryder slowly eased off his shirt in front of the long mirror to consider his bruises. His right shoulder was now an impressive dark purple. There was also lighter bruising peeking out underneath the dressing on his chest. Ryder gingerly peeled back some of the tape and prodded at the burn with his finger. It was a lot less sensitive that yesterday, but he replaced the dressing just to be safe.

Then he turned around. His back was a patchwork of purple and yellow, it was darker than yesterday and there was an imprint of a concrete step marked out across his lower back in a particularly dark shade. He drew in one long breath and watched his ribs move out as expected.

Confident he had gotten away from this fight relatively unscathed; he reached for his white shirt. As he finished dressing, he ignored the creaking of his overused body. He smiled as he fastened his bow tie, imagining how good a dip in a hot bath would be once he got home.

Even though he had taken his time, he was still done changing before Kitty. He waited uncertainly, watching the door until he heard movement directly behind it. He stepped forward quickly so that he was facing Kitty as she exited the bathroom. She paused momentarily, thrown by his presence. Ryder searched her face; he thought that her eyes maybe looked a little redder than they had been before, but he couldn't be certain.

Then she flashed him a big smile. "Showtime."

Ignoring his dubious face, Kitty strode past him towards the larger group. Ryder spun on his heel and rushed to join them also. He felt the exuberant sounds of multiple separate but interweaving conversations rush over him and let his mind go blank.

He was roused from his stupor a few minutes later when the door opened once again as Jake and Marley arrived. Ryder felt a tap on his shoulder; he was somehow still surprised to find that Katie had found a way to him unnoticed. She inclined her head to the side, motioning for him to follow him.

She led him out of earshot of the rest of New Directions and round the corner that lead to the auditorium stage.

"Is Kitty going to be okay?" Ryder asked as they rounded the corner. "I didn't realize people could be that …gray."

Katie turned around to face him, wringing her hands. "Hackers …_overclock_ their Shells. They run them at the limits of human capacity. It's normal for her to feel drained, particularly after that fight, but she'll be fine with enough rest."

Ryder nodded, satisfied with this. "So, are you gonna be out in the audience to watch?" he asked, hopefully.

Katie answered without meeting his eyes. "I'll stick around."

"Katie …are _you_ okay?"

"Don't worry," she said, flicking a small smile in his direction. "I promise it's nothing you said."

"Which means I _did_ something, right? Cos I vaguely recall you pulling back from me so fast earlier I was worried you might have anti-tamper software."

At this, Katie dropped her arms to her sides and began slowly clenching and un-clenching her fists.

"Ryder, you know this couldn't work out."

"_Why not?_"

"Because you don't understand that I'm _not human_. Not really. Because you make _me_ forget that I'm not human. You make me forget I have a job." She pulled a face and looked down.

"I don't understand the problem. We saved Kitty. It's all…"

Ryder's sentence was cut short as he felt her fingers curl around his hand. He let out his next breath at a careful, measured pace as he tried to slow his heart rate.

"You are the _one_ thing that makes me wish I were normal." She said, almost to herself.

She stood up on her toes at the same time as reaching a hand up to his shoulder to bring him down to her level. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek before immediately moving away. Ryder's arms had begun to move to embrace her and were left with only air.

By the time he reacted, she was only a foot disappearing around the corner of the stage and as he ran forward to follow her, she slipped away entirely. Conscious of the time, he promised himself to find her once the performance was over and headed to where the New Directions were getting into their places in the wings.

The choreography of the first song was mostly in pairs. He found Kitty as he made his way to stage left and together they lined up behind Jake and Marley. As they approached, Marley smiled and waved at them before continuing to fiddle with the chain around her neck. Ryder looked closer and saw the jewellery that Jake had given to her over dinner.

Serendipity, the gift shop, had had a display of necklaces that you could decorate with various charms to personalize them. Jake had bought a short silver chain and, while recollecting Marley's recent transformation into the super heroine Woman Fierce, had added the curled script letters W and F in as well as a bejewelled quaver note. _She's like Clark Kent. They both forget that, even when they're out of costume, they're still superheroes, _Jake had said, blushing.

As the auditorium was already silent, Ryder made an exaggerated gesture pointing at her neck. When she looked at him confused he mouthed the words _'nice necklace' _while tapping his own clavicle. Her face lit up as she comprehended him and she responded by nodding and mouthing _'thanks!'_. As she turned away, Ryder watched her eyes grow soft as she faced Jake. She wrapped her arm around him, drawing her closer and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Watching this sent a twinge running up to his own shoulder. As he cradled his injured left arm he thought over the past 24 hours. It was all over and he still couldn't believe it was real. He had known his life would change when he saw Katie in the hallway. Her blasting him into the locker had barely even been the start of it.

At that moment the band started up and Marley and Jake walked on to the stage where Unique was starting the first chorus. He and Kitty would be entering in about 30 seconds. (AN: Search To the Damsels: Run by Julia Nunes. _Please._)

He had had the most incredible day long adventure and it had all started there. In the locker room …When she had categorically told him that she didn't want him getting hurt again …And said that he wouldn't be involved once they found the Shell.

And …she hadn't said Shell, had she? She had said _Shells_.

She was _leaving_. She was leaving to find the other Shells. _Without him_. And that _thing_ backstage, that had been her way of saying goodbye? He was _not_ okay with this.

Ryder stomach dropped as he grabbed Kitty's arm to get her attention. "I gotta go," he muttered, before turning on his heel and running towards the closest door. He heard Kitty yelling after him but barely slowed down. Once he got outside he started heading straight to where he had seen her motorbike parked earlier that day.

Halfway there, he felt a deep thump reverberate the ground. He changed course to head towards the noise and slowed down, walking cautiously. As walked down the length of the administration building a tall guy came sprinting out of the door directly to Ryder's left. They collided and Ryder hit the ground heavily while other guy barely noticed the impact and continued his swift pace down the path. As Ryder tracked his movement, he saw a flash of blonde hair disappearing around the corner.

Knowing he had no chance against their speed, Ryder started to run in the other direction in an attempt to cut them off at the other side of the building.

As he drew nearer to the auditorium, Ryder heard the lyrics from the song he had just abandoned, floating towards him through an open window.

_I can't be saved; I'm not so frail, fighting my battles tooth and nail._

He rounded the next corner and came face to face with Katie.

Without breaking stride, she grabbed his arm and whispered, "Run!" Ryder changed direction, with only a small stumble, and then focused all his energy on keeping pace with Katie. She turned her head to see their pursuers and then fired off three short sharp blasts back underneath her arm. Ryder heard the dull thud of contact at least once but didn't chance a look backwards.

As the rounded the next corner, Katie suddenly slowed. She ducked under his arm and reached around his waist, grabbing a handful of his clothing. She grabbed his hand and planted it firmly on his shoulder. And then she fired down.

The force of the blast sent them shooting up in to the air and on to the roof of the building they had just been running next to. They landed in pile and lay there listening as the running footsteps halted, lingered and then continued on their way.

Only when he thought it was safe did Ryder turn to Katie and hiss, "What the_ hell_ is going on?"

* * *

PSA: "She hadn't said Shell, had she? She had said Shells." Is NOT a sentence that should ever be said out loud. Seriously guys. You don't wanna end up in hospital with tongue injuries.

AN: Ok, I'll be back in a few weeks. I'm doing GISHWHES next week and at some point before the end of August I need to completely finish a story for an Anthology that the Writer's Guild in my city is doing. Until then, feel free to treat this like a normal hiatus, **I welcome any and all speculation!**

Disclaimer: All my knowledge comes from 5 seasons of Smallville, the second to most recent movie and some amazing thing I watched on tv once from, like, the mid 90's that had him 'dead' by making his heart beat at approximately 1 beat per year.


	10. Katie's Personality Core

AN: Julia Nunes' To the Damsels: Run is still playing in the start of this if you want to continue the soundtrack :)

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Katie's Personality Core**

Katie stayed silent. She waited until the footsteps had died into the night before rising and making her way to the edge of the roof, keeping low and crouched. Ryder rolled over and crawled to lean next to her. Together they watched the two long shadows of their pursuers continue to prowl the campus.

"Are those the other shells?" Ryder asked. "They're not very under cover."

At this, Katie sighed and dropped her head on briefly onto the small wall before she nodded.

"Kitty's Hacker must have alerted them."

"Well, that's pretty expected isn't it?"

"I should have been able to implant memories into the Hacker and Shell so that neither remembered anything. I didn't get a chance to finish the disconnection."

"Why didn't it work?"

"When Kitty fell, the beam lost connection and I lost control of it."

Ryder recalled yanking at Kitty's leg at the end of the fight.

"So, this actually _is_ all my fault."

He turned away from the roof edge and collapsed to lean against the small safety barrier.

"Kitty's free, Ryder. And now we can recognize the other Shells. You did well."

As she spoke, Katie placed a soft hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Ryder raised his head from his slumped shoulders and sighed slowly.

Their silence was broken by the sound of a car screeching to a halt. They both turned to look over the edge again and saw a shiny black Range Rover in the parking lot in front of the auditorium. Out of the car jumped two large men dressed in smart black suits.

He felt, rather than heard, Katie swear bleakly under her breath. Fearing her response, Ryder turned to her and asked, "Who are those people?"

"Those are agents from the Syndicate."

The two men started to walk, as a unit, towards the school buildings and closer to where Katie and he were hidden in the roof. Katie sucked in her breath violently before grabbing onto Ryder's jacket sleeve and pulling him away from the edge. As he landed heavily he kept his eyes trained on Katie's face, hoping for some clue. Her expression twisted in panic for a split second before she was able to control her face and adopt her calm exterior once again.

"Wait? So why are we hiding from _them_?"

He watched Katie suck in her cheeks as she appeared to contemplate her options.

"Oh, come_ on_ Katie, I deserve to know the truth."

Katie nodded quickly but answered hesitatingly as her hands twisted in her lap. "Because …if they catch me they will take me back to the facility, they will deprogram me and …they will delete me."

"Why?"

"I went a little …_against procedure_ to come find you. Those agents down there are androids too, they plan to trap the hackers so that they can't disconnect and then torture the body for information. After days of this the hacker dies while still trapped in the human body. The people won't remember it exactly but you can't help but be _changed_ once a soul has died within you. When I thought you were a Shell, I wanted to capture you and deprogram you myself. I didn't want you to have to go through that."

"But I don't get it, why does this mean they want to _get rid_ of you?"

Katie leaned her head back and leaned it on the surface behind her. She didn't look at him as she spoke the next bit. "Because that's what you do when your equipment has a fault."

"You're what? Faulty? How?"

"The Syndicate was going to download a different personality into my body; someone more like those guys out there but with the information I gained from you. I didn't …I don't know, I just couldn't deal with that. I hacked the computer system and switched the file so that I got downloaded instead. I …snuck out to come find you."

"So, now they're after you?"

Katie brought her eyes back to look at him and nodded solemnly. "I think the disturbance from when we released Kitty's Hacker probably alerted them to my switch."

"I'm going to help." Ryder said as he stood up assertively.

"No. _No_, Ryder." Katie said warningly as she rose to join him.

"From what I'm hearing, all of these issues come from you trying to help me; you _can't stop_ me helping you."

"I can knock you out until the fight is over," she said, taking a step towards him.

"But you won't." He smiled confidently as he met her eyes.

As they stood in silence they both heard footsteps passing near to their building. Ryder's breathing quickened but he refused to break her gaze.

Katie was the first to give in. As she stepped back, Ryder spoke again. "You know I'm just going to run in and do something stupid to try and save you; don't you think things will go better if that something is part of your plan from the beginning?"

Katie paused for a second and then reached into her pocket and pulled out the device.

"Press the first button. Keep it trained on them. Do _not_ lose the connection. When the light goes green, press the second button to disengage and get them to safety. Stay _hidden_. And if anyone finds you? _Yell_."

Katie pressed the device into his outstretched hand. Instead of pulling her hand away, however, she kept it there and just started down at their hands lying, one on top of the other, separated by only the small metal disk.

"We need to disconnect the Shells, get the people to safety and then disable the Agents. And, Ryder?" She stopped as she drew in a slow breath. "Once that's over, you probably won't see me again."

Instinctively, Ryder's hand clenched into a fist and grabbed onto her hand around the device.

"What?! Why?" he blurted out.

"Ryder!" Katie hissed as she inclined her head to where multiple groups of trained hunters were within earshot. She ran her free hand through her hair as she regarded him with a mix of confusion and anger. "What did you think was going to happen here? That I was just going to slip into your life here? Join in with school and football and _glee_?"

"Well, not exactly. But why not? You have nowhere else to go." Ryder hissed back.

"You think I don't know that? But even if we do disable these Agents …what makes you think they won't just send more? I _can't _stay here."

"And what if they send more anyway, and you're not here? This isn't about them, it's about you. Katie, I _love_ you." He used their joined hands to pull Katie closer towards him.

Katie visibly deflated then. "Well, you shouldn't.

"I lied to you _all_ _of the time_ we were talking online, I almost _killed_ you the first time we met and I _continue_ to put you in danger every hour we spend together. Do you even realize how messed up we are? You shouldn't want to be with me."

"Everything you did had a reason, it doesn't change the kind of person you… "

"But I'm _not_ a person; I'm barely a part-person. Ryder…your love is real. Mine _isn't_. _I'm_ not. All the things I told you about myself. They were made up by some Syndicate coder sitting behind his desk. They couldn't be real; I didn't even have a body at that point."

She looked up now and Ryder saw her eyes glistening with un-shed tears.

"I didn't realize how different we were until last night, when I hacked into your brain; I saw your hopes, your fears, your dreams, a lifetime of memories. I didn't realize how much of you I would see because I didn't realize how much there_ was_."

"Sometimes I feel like a regular teenage girl, but then I remember where I came from. I was programmed for you, to connect with you, to get close to you. I was designed for a purpose, I shouldn't _want_ to be with you. And _then_ I remember I can fire force blasts out my hands."

She gestured down at her body.

"I don't have a heartbeat, Ryder. Did you notice that? I feel like I should. I always assumed I would when I was talking to you. Nothing feels right yet; I'm not sure who I am."

She looked up at Ryder and he felt like she was willing him to understand. In her eyes, Ryder suddenly saw shades of Unique.

"You feel like your truth isn't the one everyone else sees," he breathed.

"I'm not even sure my truth is what _I'm_ seeing."

They heard the sounds of yelling beneath them. Katie pulled her hand away from him and moved so she could see what was happening. They both crouched to lean over the partition again. In the middle of the car park the two agents were grappling with the Shells from earlier. Near them, the trees surrounding the area rustled and moved and Ryder could make out two more shadowy figures; he suspected they were more Shells. As they watched, these figures emerged and jumped to attack the closest agent, who had his back to them.

Ryder did a quick head count. Four Shells. Two Agents. Two of them. So …did that mean four against four or six against two or two against two against four?

Hurried on by the mob below them, Katie turned back to him and started to talk with a renewed sense of panic in her voice. Ryder reached out and grabbed onto her shoulder. He felt like he could physically fighting the gap that was widening between them.

"Being with someone, it's about finding all their inner thoughts and secrets. And the longer you spend with me, I'm convinced, the more you'll notice parts of me that are missing."

Ryder shook his head vehemently. "_No_, Katie. You're perfect. There's _nothing_ wrong with you."

"Not _wrong _Ryder_, missing. _Everything I have in my head was put in here by someone else, to get close to you. I have to go and fill it with more things. You might think I'm enough for you, but don't you understand? That's not enough for me."

"When you're done, will you come back?" Ryder's hand tightened where it sat on her shoulder. He looked at her imploringly, it would hurt him to let her go but he didn't know how he'd deal if he would never see her again.

Katie brought her hand up to her mouth as her face twisted against an internal pain. "We have that connection; you can feel it, right? They can't program that but still, it's there. Yes, I'll be back."

She opened her mouth to continue but let out only a choked sob, instead she placed her hand at the base of his neck. This time Ryder was prepared, he moved forward to meet. Their lips met forcefully in the space between their bodies.

And she filled his senses. Like looking into the sun, Ryder felt everything fade away, hopelessly dim in comparison. His heart pounded and his head spun. His chest heaved and his lips burned. As the movement of their lips sent shocks down his limbs he found himself both wishing and fearing that he could feel like this forever. Katie moved backwards slightly as she readjusted her feet and Ryder was able to let a small gasp of air into his lungs before her free hand was pulling at his shirt to bring him closer.

It was slower this time and Ryder was able to appreciate the softness of her lips as they united. He put a knee down between them to stabilize himself and reached out to grasp at her waist. He slid his hand down the soft curve the connected her shoulder and hip. He felt her muscles tense and un-tense underneath his hand and below that was the firmness of the sturdy metal parts that kept her alive. He paused to relish the delicate balance the Katie had between strength and softness before using his hand to pull her even closer to him.

Even in this, she was a paradox; as her waist yielded, giving him control, her fist at his chest claimed power over him. She held all the strength and yet gave it all up, as did he to her.

He felt the hand at his neck slide further up and lace into his hair. Ryder leaned in now, letting their lips separate as their foreheads connected. He brought his own hand up to support her face and felt the wetness on her cheek. He tensed his jaw as he tried to hold back his own tears.

She smelled of salt and honey and moonlight and he couldn't understand how this wasn't real.

* * *

AN: I swear to god, this wasn't all just one extended "I'll be back" joke. I actually didn't occur to me until I had typed it.


End file.
